电视行业面临灭顶之灾

    鉴于Aereo步步紧逼，广播公司正在考虑退守有线网络。但不乏讽刺意味的是，有线电视本身也在面临着互联网的威胁。对于有线电视公司来说，“放弃有线”这个问题还谈不上生死攸关，却也不容忽视。尼尔森公司（Nielsen）的数据显示，去年只有约5%的观众放弃了付费的有线电视，但是随着网上观看的选择激增，这个比例正在逐渐扩大。目前主要的威胁来自网飞（Netflix）和亚马逊（Amazon）这类公司，他们提供各种电影和电视节目，收费却大大低于有线电视。要知道，有线电视的月费甚至可能超过100美元。

    有线电视台的实况体育赛事和本地新闻节目留住了大量观众，不过Aereo提供的正是这类节目。与此同时，与《财富》同属于时代华纳集团（Time Warner）的HBO电视网暗示，可能向所有有兴趣的人提供HBO Go付费流媒体服务，即便他们并非有线电视用户（该流媒体服务目前只对有线用户开放）。HBO似乎认为，网络市场收费低且竞争激烈，挣点钱很不容易，在有线电视上获得的收入比网络上多得多。但即使这样，HBO都已经在考虑拉拢网络用户，可谓在有线电视阵营自挖墙角。

    许多有线电视的付费用户是为了收看HBO、Showtime和AMC等电视台的节目。如果这些节目最终从有线电视独立出来，在互联网上也能看到，就没有理由继续为有线电视付费了——尤其是如果Aereo获准继续经营的话。(财富中文网)

    There is some irony in the fact that Aereo's threat to TV has broadcasters considering retreating behind cable's walls, which themselves are under threat from the Internet. While "cord cutting" isn't so far a huge problem for cable companies, it is a problem. Only about 5% of viewers gave up on pay-TV last year, according to Nielsen, but that number is slowly growing as Internet-viewing options proliferate. So far the threat is mainly from the likes of Netflix (NFLX) and Amazon (AMZN), which offer a range of movies and TV shows for a fraction of the cost of a cable subscription, which can run higher than $100 a month。

    Live sports and local news are keeping a lot of viewers within the cable fold, but that's just the kind of programming that Aereo offers. Meanwhile, HBO -- which, like Fortune, is currently owned by Time Warner (TWX) -- has hinted that it might make its HBO Go streaming service to all who want to subscribe, even if they don't have a cable subscription, which is now required. For the moment, it seems like HBO believes it can make more money from the fees it collects from cable subscribers than it could make battling it out on the Internet, where prices are extremely low. But the fact that HBO is even thinking about such a move represents another crack in cable's walled fortress.

    A lot of people subscribe to cable mainly to have access to programming from networks like HBO, Showtime, and AMC. If such fare makes its way to the Internet separately from cable, the rationale for having a cable subscription will be that much harder to defend, especially if Aereo is allowed to remain in business.